Be Ye Doers. . . Of The Word!

Today, more than ever, people are confused on the subject of the speaking in tongues — speaking in an unknown language. As I travel all over the nation, I hear of the millions who are now advocating the speaking in tongues.

Many years ago I wanted to know the truth concerning speaking in tongues. I had accepted the Lord in the Assemblies of God which advocates this phenomenon. But, as time went by, I became confused and I began to study God's Word. It is my prayer that in this article we will prayerfully consider what God's Word says about speaking in tongues.

The Case For Tongues

In the many books that are written advocating speaking in tongues, six verses of scripture are generally used — 1 Corinthians 14:2, 4, 14, 18, 19, and 39. If one uses those six verses, I believe one can present a case for speaking in tongues. In verse 2 it talks about tongues being a mystery and only God can understand it, therefore, the word "unknown" refers to being unknown to the person who is speaking but known only to God. Then verse 4 tells us that when you are speaking in tongues you edify yourself. Verse 14 makes it very clear, as far as the person who speaks in tongues is concerned, that you are not to be concerned with what you are saying because your mind is not fruitful. Verse 18 goes on to say that Paul said he spoke in tongues more than anybody else, but he said that in the church he would rather speak with five words of his own mind than in 10,000 words in a tongue; so, many say that means you are to go into your closet and speak in tongues in private (although that doesn't say so). Then in verse 39 the bible says, "do not forbid to speak in tongues."

I feel that if one uses these six verses of scripture you could come up with a good case for speaking in tongues. However, we must realize that Paul did not write six verses of scripture. In fact, the apostle Paul never even knew there was such a thing as 1 Corinthians 14. Chapters never came into the Bible until 1556 and verses didn't come until 1557, so reading the Bible in this fashion is incorrect. It is like a man receiving a sixteen page letter (we'll use sixteen pages because there are sixteen chapters in the Corinthian letter) and then turns to page fourteen and reads paragraphs 2, 4, 14, 18, 19, and 39, and says, "this is the gist of the letter." One might say because of those six verses, "that is the gist of what Paul is speaking about." That is wrong. Paul wrote a letter; so, therefore, we must start at page one.

Paul Admonishes
The Corinthian Church

Now, what was Paul speaking about in this particular letter? First of all, who was he speaking to? He was speaking to the Corinthian Church, and Paul was admonishing them — no doubt with a mixture of tenderness and authority. The city of Corinth was an evil city. It was a city of paganish, strange cultures, and immorality. Some of these things were creeping into the Corinthian Church. That is why Paul writes in chapter one that there are divisions among you — some said they were of Apollos, some said they were of Paul, some Cephas, and some Christ (very similar to the divisions we have today with the hundreds of denominations). In chapter five he talks about immorality in the church and demands the excommunication of a member of the church who was having an affair with his step-mother. Chapter six, Paul is discussing lawsuits and how Christians were bringing each other before pagan judges. He goes on in chapter eleven to speak about abusing the Lord's Supper, and in chapter twelve, division threatened the life of the Church. In this case it was over gifts. They were claiming the gifts for personal honor. The gifts were never for personal honor, but were to edify the Church. Again, in chapter thirteen, Paul says that love is the more excellent way. He explains in verse eight that when the "completed Word of God comes," which we have today, that tongues would cease. The knowledge and prophesy he was talking about would still be going on; however, the knowledge and the prophesy is in the completed Word, the Scriptures. Those things we have today. But in those days they didn't have this. Then, they had divine guidance in absence of the New Testament (1 Corinthians 13:9).

First Corinthians Explained

In chapter fourteen Paul begins to speak to them about love and prophesy, and most of all he emphasizes prophesy. Now, I feel a better interpretation of 1 Corinthians 14:2 would be, "but, if your gift is that of being able to speak in tongues, that is, to speak in languages you haven't learned, you will be talking to God but not to others since they won't be able to understand you. You will be speaking by the power of the Spirit but it will all be secret." You see, they definitely had the miraculous gifts of speaking in languages they had never, ever learned, and Paul said you are going to speak in these languages; God understands this , but none of us here in the Church do. Paul later explained in 1 Corinthians 14:19 that in the Church he would rather speak five words of his own language than 10,000 in an unknown tongue; so, what Paul was saying is you certainly have the gifts of speaking in languages that you have never, ever learned, but it is not for us here in the Church. God understands, but we don't.

Edification
Not For Personal Honor

Then we come to verse four where people say that the reason they speak in tongues is because they edify themselves. 1 Corinthians 14:4 says, "one who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, one who prophesies edifies the Church." If a person goes around edifying himself only, then this actually is a violation of the very principles of God's Word. One is not to edify himself but to edify the body of Christ. One just has to look down in verse twelve where it says "so also you since you are zealous of spiritual gifts seek to abound for the ‘EDIFICATION' of the Church." And, again, of course, in verse six Paul mentions "but now, brethren, if I come to you speaking in tongues what shall I profit you unless I speak to you either by way of revelation or knowledge or of prophesy or of teaching." In those days they didn't have the completed Word of God and they could still bring a revelation. A revelation is a supernatural unveiling of divine truth. Who today can bring a revelation? The Bible says in Revelation 22:18, "If anyone adds to this book, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book." The Scriptures have been once and for all written to the saints, so we cannot bring a revelation.

Tongues Not a Secret Language

Paul makes it very clear that speaking in tongues has to be something we understand because he said even instruments (and he uses the flute, harp and bugle) have to make sense, for if the bugle produces an indistinct sound, who will prepare himself for battle? In other words, Paul is saying when a person sounds a bugle it has to be the reveille, the charge, the retreat, the taps — and if we don't understand what is going on, we'll just think some kid is playing that bugle. So he says, "also you, unless you utter by the tongue speech that is clear, how will it be known what is spoken?" Then again in verse eleven Paul says if he doesn't understand the meaning of the language, "I shall be for the one who speaks a barbarian (that is, a foreigner) and the one who speaks will be a barbarian to me." We just won't understand each other, Paul is saying; so, he said, "since you are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek to abound for the edification of the Church."

Mind Unfruitful is Untruthful

Now we come to that verse fourteen where people say that "their mind is UNFRUITFUL so it is okay to speak in tongues." Unfortunately they do not carry into the context of what Paul is saying, and go on to the next verses because Paul was saying, "For if I pray in a tongue my spirit prays but my mind is UNFRUITFUL." What is the outcome then? He asks a question. He said, "I shall pray with the spirit and with the mind also, I shall sing with the spirit and I shall sing with the mind also. Otherwise if you bless in the spirit only, how will the one who fills the place of the ungifted (that is, the one who doesn't understand the language) say ‘Amen' since he doesn't know what you are talking about." He says you are giving thanks well enough, but the other man is not edified. You see, when they spoke in tongues it was for the mighty works of God, and that is where the giving of thanks comes into it. Now, it is interesting to hear what Paul says in the next ten verses. He says, "I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all, however, in the Church I would rather speak with five words of my own than ten thousand in an unknown tongue." Now why did he say, "in the Church?" The Church is not a building. Christian believers are the Church and it is no good for us to speak to each other in foreign languages because we wouldn't understand, and it wasn't for us anyway — it was for the unbeliever (1 Corinthians 14:22). The whole point that Paul was making is that we need to minister to each other, and we cannot minister to each other if we don't know what we're talking about.

Paul makes a very interesting statement in verse 20. He tells them to stop acting like children because that is what they were doing. They had a miraculous gift of speaking in languages they had never learned, but they were acting like children. That is why Paul makes a very important statement as he quotes the Old Testament in verse 21. He quotes a passage from Isaiah 28:11. He says, "In the law it is written by men of strange tongue and by the lips of strangers I will speak to this people and even so they will not listen to me saith the Lord." Now why did Paul use Isaiah 28:11? He did it to give an example of what speaking in tongues is really for. Let us turn to Isaiah 28:11 and what do we read? We read that Isaiah was speaking to the drunken Jewish priests, the Ephramites, and he told them, "you are not listening to God," then he gave them a prophecy. He said, "God will send a foreign speaking nation, the Assyrian nation, to take you over and speak to you in a different language." Why did he (Paul) say that? Well, he was using this as an example of what tongues, true tongues, are for. Because the very next verse he said, "so then tongues are for a sign not to those who believe but to unbelievers." You see, friend, the Bible is very clear who tongues are for. Tongues are for the unbeliever.

Sign For Unbelievers Only

When were tongues spoken? There are three very prominent times that tongues were spoken; once on the day of Pentecost and who were there? The unbelieving Jewish nations from all over the world. The apostles stood up and spoke in languages they had not learned (Acts 2:9-11) and the Jews were amazed. We do not know exactly what the apostles said at this point. They told their audiences about the wonderful works of God but their words are not recorded. We do, however, know what languages they spoke. They were (in addition to Aramaic) Parthian, Meade, and Elamite; and the languages of Cappadocia, Pontus, and Asia; Pamphylia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, and Crete; and the languages of Arabia and Mesopotamia. Fifteen places are mentioned in Acts 2:9-11, not counting Judea, but Phrygia is a part of Asia and Cyrene is a city in Libya. It is probable that at least two of the other regions mentioned spoke the same language which would leave a total of twelve foreign languages in all — one for each of the apostles.

In verse 11 the people said, "We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God." The apostles were not speaking unintelligible gibberish; their speech was understood because they were speaking the native language of the people. That is why the people were amazed and bewildered. The apostles were ignorant Galileans, yet they addressed their audiences in a dozen different languages.

The second reference to the gift of tongues is found in Acts 10:46. Peter was preaching a sermon to Cornelius and his household when the Holy Spirit fell upon them as He had fallen on the apostles in the beginning, (Acts 11:15). Peter, and the six Jewish Christians who were with him were amazed because they heard them speaking in tongues and extolling God, Acts 10:46. Seven years after Pentecost when the Holy Spirit fell upon Cornelius and his household, the gift of tongues again constituted a sign from Heaven. This time it signified that God is no respecter of persons, Acts 10:34. It was heavenly proof that the Gentiles, as well as the Jews, had been granted repentance unto life, Acts 11:18. What kind of tongues did Cornelius and his household speak? We believe they spoke in foreign languages just like the apostles did on the day of Pentecost. Why do we believe this? Because Peter said later that Cornelius and his household received the same gift (Acts 11:17) that the apostles had received at the beginning of Pentecost. Since the apostles had spoken foreign languages on the day of Pentecost, it stands to reason that Cornelius spoke foreign languages also. Thus far we see a consistency of the nature of tongues.

Speaking in tongues is obviously a language and a sign to the unbeliever. Today it is strange. It is estimated that there are about 5 million people in America speaking in tongues. So far we have no proof of one person today who goes around speaking a language he has never, ever learned except some story in a remote country. However, today we have millions of people that can speak the "unknown language." There are also people who claim the "angelic" speaking in tongues and the "heavenly" language. I would like to deal with each of these claims separately.

Angelic Language

"Angelic language" or "language of angels" — the claim for this is taken from 1 Corinthians 13:1. Some have regarded this as the language of angels. However, we must remember that angels are spirits, Hebrews 1:14. Spirits do not have flesh and bones, therefore, how could angels have languages when they do not possess this flesh and blood to form the words? However, the Bible tells us that God used angels as a messengers in the form of men. How this was done, we are not sure. The reason we believe this is because Abraham, Elijah and Lot spoke to angels; however, we see that when this happened, these messengers who came to Abraham, Elijah and Lot came as men and obviously they spoke the language of the day. So, in all probability, Paul was mentioning the "angelic tongue" in 1 Corinthians 13:1 in a figurative sense rather than a literal sense.

Heavenly Language

A "heavenly language" — is this possible? There are two very good reasons why the last claim is impossible and the reasons are found in II Corinthians 12:1-4. In this portion of Scripture, Paul refers to a man who was caught up in Heaven and heard INEXPRESSIBLE WORDS which were UNLAWFUL to utter. Hence, we see that even if one had a "heavenly language," it would be inexpressible as well as unlawful to utter.

The Correct Use Of Tongues

Paul begins to explain how this should be done in the Church in 1 Corinthians 14:27. He said if anyone speaks in a tongue, let there be only two or three at the most and each in turn and let one interpret. The Bible clearly shows us how tongues were spoken in those days. First of all, a man had to have a miraculous gift of speaking a language he had never known. Then, I believe, that the man would also have to have a gift of discernment to know that there was an unbeliever there. Don't forget that Corinth was a cosmopolitan city and many foreigners came. Paul often spoke next door to synagogues and it was a possibility that the unbelieving Jews would come into the assembly of the Church. So, what would happen would be, a man would stand up and speak a language which he had never ever known and this was the sign to the unbelieving Jew 1 Corinthians 14:22). However, there had to be another man, or even the same man who spoke in tongues, to interpret. He had to interpret the language so the believers could understand. So here we see tongues serve two purposes — (1) a sign for the unbeliever and (2) to edify the body of Christ because the gifts were for the edification of the Church 1 Corinthians 12:12; 1 Corinthians 12:7).

What If A Brother Speaks In Tongues

I believe our first duty is to ask — Why? Perhaps he is responding to the lack of evidence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of professed Christians. People sometimes see so little of the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-24) that they try to recapture the temporary gifts to give themselves evidence of the Spirit. Christians who are surrounded with brethren who have the "more excellent way" of love do not need "tongues." Secondly, we must restore such a brother in a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1). We are so quick to ex-communicate a "tongue-speaker," but not so anxious or quick to deal with a gossiper, liar or slanderer. Thirdly, our brother needs more love than ever, and we should teach him the scriptural position with love and logic. Finally, if the brother persists in his error, teaching and practicing his "tongue speaking" so as to draw away other disciples after him, then he has become factious, and we should apply Titus 3:10. Above all, our attitude should be guided by Romans 12:10 and Ephesians 4:15.

Signs of Faith

As Christians, we do not need signs and wonders. We accept our Lord Jesus Christ on faith — not blind faith — but faith in the facts of the Scriptures, faith in the fact of the death of Jesus, faith in the fact of His resurrection. God has not left us as orphans. As Jesus Christ said in John 16:7, "But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away. For if I do not go away, the helper shall not come to you; but if I go away, I will send Him to you."

He has not left us as orphans! He has sent the person of the Holy Spirit to us. How do we know we have the person of the Holy Spirit ? Acts 2:38, "And Peter said unto them, ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.'"

Our concern should not be whether people can speak in tongues or not, but should be according to what Jesus said in Matthew 28:19-20 — "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit; teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, to the close of the age."